Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive took the stand in his own drunken driving case after pleading not guilty to impaired driving charges. Vaive was arrested on July 14 with a blood-alcohol level twice the league limit after having a 6-pack during a round of golf that day. Vaive explained that even enough though he had six beers before getting behind the wheel for the three hour drive home, he was not drunk. He added that he didn’t know how many drinks it would take for him to get drunk because he “hasn’t been drunk in some time.” Regarding the case at hand, Vaive make clear that the 6-pack of beer was enough:

“I would say probably anything over six would be my limit. My rule is three, actually.”

Upon his arrest, Vaive called Trevor Whiffen (his agent) that night from the police station. In court today, Whiffen said “he appeared lucid and his speech was not slurred.” It’s good to know that he sober when he called his agent. As for when he was behind the wheel of his car? The blood-alcohol test said otherwise.

The former 5th overall pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1979 draft played with five NHL teams over the course of his career, but did his best work for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 1980s. He had three consecutive 50 goal seasons starting in the 1981-82 season totally 157 goals. Not only was he the type of player who could score 93 points in a season, but he also would drop the mitts from time to time for his teammates. A perfect juxtaposition for his career was in 1980-81 when he racked up 229 PIMs, only to come back the next season and pot Maple Leafs’ record 54 goals. His three stellar seasons are still in the Top 4 in Maple Leafs history.

The next step in the process is to wait. The judge won’t rule on the case for six months, as scheduling issues pushed the decision back until February. At that point, the judge will rule on the case and if found guilty, sentence the 52-year-old former NHL star. The minimum fine for an impaired driving charge in Ontario is $1000, while the maximum jail sentence could be up to five years.